Wednesday Links: Rebooted for the new semester!

Good luck to everyone on their first day of class!  Here are some links to get you through some of the more boring lectures:

• First off, NYU's own Professor Richard Epstein has a number of newly published articles:
• The Perils of Price Controls
• Collective Bargaining = Collective Suicide
• How Is Warren Buffett Like the Pope?
• Alex Epstein (no relation?) on the folly of using Standard Oil as a justification for antitrust laws
  MasterResource: Vindicating Capitalism: The Real History of the Standard Oil Company
• Robert Smith on Dept. of Education's decision to lower the standard to prove sexual harassment on college campuses
  RCP: On Sexual Harassment and Title IX
• Apparently, now you can't bring dogs into NYC bars
  Volokh: New York City Bars Dogs from Bars
• Russ Roberts on Keynesianism and the broken window fallacy
  Cafe Hayek: The Microeconomics of the Broken Window Fallacy

Thursday Reading: 2012, 10th Amendment, & more

• Steve Chapman argues that Republicans are not serious about the 10th Amendment
  Reason: Phony Federalism
• Eugene Volokh on the hyperbolic attacks on Republican holdouts in the debt ceiling debate
  Volokh Conspiracy:  Debt Limits, Union Strike Threats, and Talk of “Extortion” and “Hostage-Taking”
• Kay Hymowitz says the gender gap in pay is not going away any time soon, and that it's ok
  City Journal: Why the Gender Gap Won’t Go Away. Ever.
• Jay Cost thinks that Obama is unlikely to face a primary contender
  Weekly Standard: No Serious Democrat Will Challenge Obama
• Jim VanDehei and Mike Allen see problems ahead for Obama's re-election
  Politico: Obama's Big Drags
• Karl Rove says that the GOP came out of the debt ceiling debate well-positioned for 2012
  WSJ: The Debt-Ceiling Debate & 2012
• Quote of the day
  

  The State is the great fiction through which everyone endeavours to live at the expense of everyone else.
  

  - Frédéric Bastiat

Wednesday Reading: Teacher salaries, debt ceiling aftermath, & more

• Nick Gillespie challenges policy-wonk Matt Damon's claim that teachers are underpaid
  Reason: Is Matt Damon Right That Teachers Make a "Shitty" Salary?
  
• Paul Ryan wants to see the president's budget
  WSJ: Where's Your Budget, Mr. President?
• Becker and Posner on the aftermath of the debt ceiling compromise
  Becker: Immediate and Medium Term Debt and Deficit Problems
  Posner: The Depression, the Deficit Debacle, and the Debt-Ceiling Crisis
• Becker & Posner again on those stubborn unemployment numbers
  Becker: The Abysmal Recovery in Employment
  Posner: What to Do about Unemployment in the Short Term?
• Ilya Somin makes a case for divided government
  Volokh Conspiracy: The Debt Deal & Divided Government

Tuesday Reading

• Richard Epstein calls on the government to cut back on tax expenditures
  Defining Ideas: The Tax Expenditures Muddle
  

  Tax expenditures—such as ethanol subsidies—allow the government to spend money in disguise. There are trillions of dollars of such tax expenditures which are waiting to be canceled out—enough, in fact, to ease our deficit woes. 

• NY Magazine profiles rivals Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman
  NY Mag: Running for Grown-Up

Monday Reading: Apocalypse averted(?) & more

• Tyler Cowen & Brad Delong discuss the effect of the debt ceiling debacle on the balance of power in Washington
  Marginal Revolution: Has there been a shift in the political balance of power?
  Grasping Reality: Are We Shifting Toward a Parliamentary System?
• George Condon says the debt debate hurt the president's 2012 prospects
  National Journal: Obama Hurt By Debt Debate
  
  
• For next time: Megan MaCardle has some charts that anyone thinking about the debt ceiling should consider
  The Atlantic: A Few More Charts That Should Accompany All Debt Ceiling Discussions
• In other news: Jonathan Adler on overfishing
  Volokh Conspiracy: Learning How to Fish
• Robert Barnes on two potential candidates for the Supreme Court's next affirmative action case
  WaPo: College Affirmative Action Back On Supreme Court's Horizon

Friday Reading: Raising the roof, economy in the gutter, & more

Friday Funnies at Reason

• Megan MaCardle gives a run-down on what will happen if the ceiling is not raised
  The Atlantic: What Happens If We Don't Raising the Debt Ceiling?
• Charles Krauthammer on the Boehner Plan
  National Review: The Debt Ceiling Divide
  

  Consider the Boehner plan for debt reduction. The Heritage Foundation’s advocacy arm calls it “regrettably insufficient.” Of course it is. That’s what happens when you control only half a branch. But the plan’s achievements are significant. It is all cuts, no taxes. It establishes the precedent that debt-ceiling increases must be accompanied by equal spending cuts. And it provides half a year to both negotiate more fundamental reform (tax and entitlement) and keep the issue of debt reduction constantly in the public eye.

• Thomas Sowell says it's time to deal
  RCP: Ideals vs. Realities
• Eugene Volokh on using an executive order to raise the debt ceiling
  Volokh Conspiracy: From Rep. James Clyburn on Executive Power
• Peggy Noonan says America has fallen out of love with Obama
  WSJ: They've Lost That Loving Feeling
• Pew charts independents' flee from the president
  Pew Research: Obama Loses Ground in 2012 Reelection Bid
• Economy grew only 1.3% in Q2
  Economy in U.S. Grows Less Than Forecast After Almost Stalling

Tuesday Reading: Epstein, the debt crisis, & more

• Obama hits approval rating low
• Prof. Epstein advocates the flat tax to solve the financial crisis
  Defining Ideas: Raise Taxes on the Poor
  

  Rather than increasing taxes on the rich, as the president wants, we need to increase taxes on the poor.  Our progressive system of taxation is a mistake—it is part of the reason why we are experiencing this fiscal crisis. Under a flat tax system, all income earners will have to foot their part of the bill for each new government program.

• Rick Perry's refusal to condemn New York's gay marriage legalization is raising eyebrows
  RCP: Perry, Conservatives, and Gay Marriage: An Evolving View?
• George Will contrasts Obama and Boehner's styles
  WaPo: Congress Stands Its Ground
• WSJ on last night's speeches
  WSJ: A Leadership Default
• Megan MaCardle is also unimpressed
  The Atlantic: The Subliminal Message of Tonight's Speech: We're Doomed

Monday Reading: Caplan on the split between conservatives and libertarians

GMU's Brian Caplan has an interesting post on the split between libertarians and conservatives.

For libertarians, to believe in liberty is to believe in massive rollback of the state.  For conservatives, to believe in liberty is to oppose further expansion of the state (at least in the economic realm).  For conservatives, "liberty" means defeating Obamacare.  For libertarians, "liberty" means separation of health and state - which means abolishing even ultra-popular programs like Medicare.

Read more here.

Watch the student debate at CATO here.

Thursday Reading: 10% unemployment, 2012, & more

• Reason interviews recent Nobel Nobel Laureate Vernon Smith on the housing bubble, Adam Smith, and libertarianism [above]
• Michael Barone assesses Obama's 2012 re-election chances
  The American: How to Understand Obama's Chances in 2012
• Jeff Reeves warns of 10% unemployment
  MarketWatch: Why We'll Have 10% Unemployment Soon
• Daniel Henninger on Paul Ryan's popularity and what it means in the GOP nomination contest
  WSJ: The Paul Ryan Factor
• New Israeli law allows civil suits against those who call for boycotts of Israeli companies
  Reason: Jewish Groups Speak Out Against Israel's Speech-Killing Boycott Law
• Megan MaCardle on some the hypocrisy of some spending "hawks"
  The Atlantic: Getting Specific on Spending

Wednesday Reading: Debt ceiling, sweltering heat, & more

• A Hayekian argument for raising the debt ceiling?
  Value Added: Hayek and the Debt Ceiling
• Federal workers are more likely to die than lose their jobs
  Reason: Death is the Most Effective H.R. Manager for Federal Employees
• Americans vote with their feet, and flee to more free states
  Volokh Conspiracy: Foot Voting for Freedom
• Why would anyone ever live in Washington, DC?
  WaPo: NOAA predicts heat index of 116 in Washington, D.C. Friday
• Institute for Humane Studies puts together a basic primer in Austrian Economics
  EconLog: Learn (Austrian) Economics in an Hour?

Economic Freedom & Quality of Life

This past weekend, at the Federalist Society's National Student Leadership Conference in Arlington, Virginia, Eric Alston of the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation presented the above video on the relationship between economic freedom and quality of life.  The sobering video identifies the importance of economic liberty to high standards of living, and highlights how America is slipping down the ranks.

You can learn more at join the discussion at http://www.facebook.com/economicfreedom.

Tuesday Reading: SCOTUS roundup, Epstein on the debt ceiling, & more

• Watch Miguel Estrada's Supreme Court Roundup above
• Richard Epstein proposes a potential compromise
  Defining Ideas: A 'Debt Limit' Compromise

  The Republican strategy to rail against all new taxes is a misguided position. They should break ranks with Grover Norquist’s tax advocacy group, Americans for Tax Reform, whose “no new taxes” pledge has been taken by many members of Congress. In fact, the GOP should accept some tax increases, but fight hard to tie those increases to a flattening of the tax rates and to the largest possible increase in spending cuts. That would be a true ’debt limit’ compromise.

• Eighth Circuit strikes down St. Louis sign law on First Amendment grounds
  Reason: 8th Circuit Says St. Louis Must Tolerate Conspicuous Criticism
• Jimy Lowry says conservatives should think twice about a "balanced budget" amendment
  National Review: Against the Balanced Budget Amendment
• Nick Gillespie & Matt Welch opine on the future of American politics
  Reason: The Declaration of Independents

Friday Reading: Bad numbers for Obama & more

Friday Funnies at Reason

• David Bernstein responds to some controversy stirred up by his op-ed on Justice Breyer
  Volokh Conspiracy: Follow Up on Breyer Op-Ed
• Things not looking so good for Obama's inevitable re-election
  Gallup: Obama - 39%, Generic Republican - 47%
• Russ Roberts elaborates on Keynesianism and the post-WWII boom
  Cafe Hayek: Keynes vs. Reality - 2
• Ezra Klein on five potential deals in the works (I know, I know.  Ezra Klein?!)
  Washington Post: Wonkbook: Five possible deals, and a slew of new warnings
• Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff on how public debt kills growth
  Bloomberg: Debt Endangers Growth
• Quote of the day:
  

  I am in favor of cutting taxes under any circumstances and for any excuse, for any reason, whenever it's possible. The reason I am is because I believe the big problem is not taxes, the big problem is spending. The question is, "How do you hold down government spending?" Government spending now amounts to close to 40% of national income not counting indirect spending through regulation and the like. If you include that, you get up to roughly half. The real danger we face is that number will creep up and up and up. The only effective way I think to hold it down, is to hold down the amount of income the government has. The way to do that is to cut taxes.
  

  Milton Friedman

Thursday Reading: Harvard docs hate fat kids & more

• Two Harvard doctors either (a) hate fat children or (b) know nothing about the state of child protective services in this country
  Journal of the American Medical Association: All Your Fat Kids Are Belong to Us
  Reason: Should Fat Kids Be Removed From Their Unfit Families For Their Own Good?
• Quote of the day:
  

  I am obliged to confess I should sooner live in a society governed by the first two thousand names in the Boston telephone directory than in a society governed by the two thousand faculty members of Harvard University.
  

  William F. Buckley

• Steve Chapman asks whether anti-polygamy laws violate the Constitution
  Reason: Kody Brown and His Four Wives
• Something that has always bothered me about Keynesianism: the post WWII boom
  Cafe Hayek: Keynes vs. Reality
• Megan McAardle on one of the other constitutionally suspect aspects of Obamacare
  The Atlantic: Medicare Payment Reform: Still Acrimonious As Hell
• Keith Hennessey's guess on why Republicans are refusing Obama's debt deal offer (HT: Greg Mankiw)
  Keith Hennessey: The President’s offer is left of Bowles-Simpson
• Michael McConnell calls on the President to get specific on budget proposals
  WSJ: Budget Shell Games are Contrary to Law

Wednesday Reading: Barnett on "commerce," climate change, & more

• Randy Barnett blogs about his upcoming U of Illinois Law Review article replying to Jack Balkin's originalism
  Volokh Conspiracy: Jack Balkin's Interaction Theory of "Commerce"
  Article here
• Terry Eastland says more than just the healthcare market is at stake in the Obamacare litigation
  Weekly Standard: Liberty Is at Stake
• Brian Tamanaha says law schools are perpetuating class divisions
  Balkinization: How Law Schools Are Helping the Elite
• Ronald Bailey discusses the role of cognitive biases in the climate change debate
  Reason: Climate Change and Confirmation Bias